On Monday, stocks were higher while the price of oil was down another 4%, adding to last week's 9% decline.

Near 11:15 am ET, West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 4% to around $43 a barrel, a new six-year low for the commodity.

Stocks were higher, with the Dow up 190 points, the S&P 500 up 21 points, and the Nasdaq up 46 points.

On Friday, the latest data from oil driller Baker Hughes showed that the number of oil rigs in use in the US is at its lowest level since March 2011. In a note to clients over the weekend, Damien Courvalin at Goldman Sachs said that the current rig decline is pointing towards a slight decline in US oil production in the second quarter of this year.

Excess supply in the oil market, driven largely by an increase in US production, has been blamed for the sharp decline in oil prices seen over the last several months.

But in a report last week, the IEA said that oil prices were likely to fall further despite the relative stability seen in oil markets over the last month or so.

On the economic data front on Monday, the latest Empire State manufacturing report from the New York Fed came in at 6.9, below expectations for a reading of 8, while the latest report on industrial production from the Federal Reserve also disappointed as manufacturing production unexpectedly declined 0.2% in February.

Homebuilder confidence also disappointed, falling to 53 from 55 in February and missing expectations for a rebound to a reading of 56.